Danny Amendola fined for hit on Jamell Fleming

Posted by Josh Alper on January 22, 2016, 10:43 AM EDT

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Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that Danny Amendola’s block on Chiefs cornerback Jamell Fleming while Fleming was attempting to down a punt in last Saturday’s game was a “legal play,” but the officials disagreed.

Amendola, who opted not to field the punt as the punt returner, was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the play. The league also disagreed with Belichick’s assessment.

Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that Amendola said Friday that the league informed him that he has been fined for the hit. He didn’t disclose the amount of the fine, but the NFL’s schedule of fines for the season calls for a $23,152 fine for an illegal hit on a defenseless player.

Amedola said early in the week that he would appeal any fine for the hit and repeated that vow on Friday.

103 responses to “Danny Amendola fined for hit on Jamell Fleming”

“Amedola said early in the week that he would appeal any fine for the hit and repeated that vow on Friday.”

He’s guilty of a cheap shot, was flagged and fined and he won’t accept any responsibility. That’s the Patriot way. The NFLPA has a conflict of interest here, should they support him even though his actions are harmful to another union member?

“Amedola said early in the week that he would appeal any fine for the hit and repeated that vow on Friday.”

He’s guilty of a cheap shot, was flagged and fined and he won’t accept any responsibility. That’s the Patriot way. The NFLPA has a conflict of interest here, should they support him even though his actions are harmful to another union member?
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Regardless of what the rules say, they need to fix this play. If you’re the punt returner, even if you don’t call for a fair catch, the defense has to wait for the ball to arrive to tackle you. Drilling a guy while he’s looking up in the sky to field a punt is not okay, I don’t care whose team he’s on.

I forgot about the Fitzgerald hit. It WILL be interesting to see the 2 tier justice system in the NFL at work again if the league fails to fine Larry.

Both calls were boarder line, and subject to interpretation, so I didn’t have much of a problem with the flags, though I can see the case for NOT throwing them. However neither deserved a fine unless all “roughing” calls now get fines.

I don’t have a problem with the fine. I don’t have a problem with the penalty. It wasn’t a cheap shot. It wasn’t a dirty play. It was a smart play. He just happened to get a little high with his attempt to flatten the gunner. I view it no different than when a receiver goes over the middle and the defender ends up hitting him in the head. It is a penalty. It ends up garnering a fine. But it doesn’t automatically mean it was an intentionally dirty cheap shot to the head. This is the NFL of 2016. No big deal

It was not a legal hit. Amendola meant to hit him in the chest, but mistimed the hit and/or the target ducked and he hit him in the head. If a defensive back targets a receivers chest and the receiver ducks and the DB hits the receivers head, it’s flagged, regardless of intent.

As a Pats fan I have no problem with the fine. For all the crybaby #WeAreHatriots there are two points to consider.

The first is that virtually every player appeals every penalty, as it helps establish league precedent and may gain them a reduction.

The second is that Amendola has NO HISTORY of this sort of penalty; hence the idea of a suspension is ludicrous. I understand you embrace excessive penalties against the Pats, but remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely and it could be the franchise you root for next.

it seems belichick can’t understand the rules. once upon a time in the playoffs, he said the hit on wes welker was the dirtiest thing he had seen, and the league declined to fine talib. this time, he says its a clean hit. and he league fines amendola.

This must be some Goodell to Kraft payback. Amendola should have been suspended on this hit similar to OBJ. Both players had a clean history and both hits were alike. Good job by Belichick at the beginning of the week downplaying the hit as legal when “of course” Bill knows the rules better than anyone and knew it was illegal. He was hoping by downplaying it, it might help in getting a fine instead of a suspension. Those Patriots are always thinking.

The second is that Amendola has NO HISTORY of this sort of penalty; hence the idea of a suspension is ludicrous. I understand you embrace excessive penalties against the Pats, but remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely and it could be the franchise you root for next

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It’s the same reason for wanting Brady suspended. 🙂

Patriot Hater’s team is simply not man enough to beat the World Champions on the field man to man and fair and square. Therefore, the puny little weaklings want the league to give them an advantage. 🙂

The only reason the NFL decided to fine Amendola was because Bill said it was a legal hit.

Once again, the NFL puts their definition of “integrity” on display.

NE gets fined and loses draft picks because nature let a minimal amount of air out of their footballs. Indy’s footballs lost the same amount of air and no penalties. Carolina and Minnesota were SEEN ON LIVE TV TAMPERING WITH THEIR FOOTBALLS and all they got was a hush-hush letter.

Indy admitted in the Wells report that they tampered with NE’s intercepted football. No penalty. In fact, I don’t think it’s even legal to have needles on the sidelines. No penalty despite the fact that Indy is the dirtiest team in the NFL!

Against the Ratbirds last year, NE uses a 100% legal play that’s been accepted for years. Guess what? It’s immediately banned. This year, the Baltimorons used the same play over and over. No penalty.

Next, the NFL will declare that NE can only use 8 men and their touchdowns only count as 4 points.

Every new rule and decision the NFL makes is aimed directly at the Patriots.

These comments make me lose faith in humanity. The Chiefs player was no where close to him and trying to keep the ball from going into the end zone. Amendola completely blindsided him out of no where and lead with his crown.

Fitzgerald did a block on a play. And he’s a class act. Completely different situations. Bill is known for cheating and employing Hernandez, not surprised he would use that as his stance. Most stained coach in history.

81megatron81 says:
Jan 22, 2016 11:07 AM
The “play” was legal, blocking in that situation is perfectly legal. However the hit to the head, not so much.

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intrafinesse says:
Jan 22, 2016 11:08 AM
It was not a legal hit. Amendola meant to hit him in the chest, but mistimed the hit and/or the target ducked and he hit him in the head. If a defensive back targets a receivers chest and the receiver ducks and the DB hits the receivers head, it’s flagged, regardless of intent.

For my edification, do any Patriots fans hang out on the threads of other teams and constantly trash talk? I haven’t noticed that happening, just isolated experiences and postings. Pats threads are different. The top five poster are Patriots haters who get their panties in a bunch over inane controversies like a block by Amendola or a Belichick press conference.

My initial reaction at the time of Amendola’s hit was what the hell is he doing? Not for the penalty, but for the incredible stupidity of what he did. Amendola knew the guy was keying in on catching the punt so he makes a block directly under the descending ball. If the ball had touched Amendola it would have been ruled a fumble followed by a KC recovery and possible TD. Forget the league, the Pats should have fined him.

It was a legal hit though a hard one. He was coming from the front side of the player he hit and he hit him hard but not helmet to helmet. The target was ignoring Amendola and not looking out for himself like he should have.

Reminds me of when I still watched MLB and in the twilight of his career Pete Rose went to the Phillies. They were in the playoffs and Rose was charging around 3rd base heading for home and the throw beat him. The catcher was almost twice his weight probably and obviously expected Rose to try and slide around him. Pete barreled into him at full speed, flattened the guy who dropped ball and Rose scored.

Moral of the story is always expect the hit and be prepared. Especially in football. The KC player should have been paying attention to the field around him.

“Amedola said early in the week that he would appeal any fine for the hit and repeated that vow on Friday.”

He’s guilty of a cheap shot, was flagged and fined and he won’t accept any responsibility. That’s the Patriot way. The NFLPA has a conflict of interest here, should they support him even though his actions are harmful to another union member?
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Ridiculous … Almost every week and every team has a player fined for a hit and files for an appeal. That’s the Patriot, Jets, Cowboys, Steelers, Cardinals, Raiders, Chargers, Bengals, Browns, Panthers, Rams, Dolphins, Bills, Redskins, Giants, Eagles, etc. …WAY.

As a Pats fan, I don’t think this was a smart play as some have indicated.

First, he has his back to the ball in the field of play and is heading right into the area where the kicking team receiver is attempting to field the ball. The ball could have hit Amendola in the back and been recovered by the Chiefs within the 10yd line. Not a smart play.

Second, he was heading back towards his end zone and that by rule makes him ineligible to block some one. So the play is definitely a penalty.

The block isn’t legal! His head was down and he was targeting the defender’s head with the crown of his helmet. Similar to what Beckham did to Norman but not nearly that cheap. Beckham should have been suspended 3 games and Amendola 1

delhommed says:
Jan 22, 2016 11:41 AM
The block isn’t legal! His head was down and he was targeting the defender’s head with the crown of his helmet. Similar to what Beckham did to Norman but not nearly that cheap. Beckham should have been suspended 3 games and Amendola 1

The rule amendola broke is based on the direction he was moving. You actually can’t hit in the direction of your own goal line in the NFL – weird but true.

He DID NOT hit him in the head. He did not lead with the crown of his helmet – it was a shoulder hit in the upper chest. Those of you that say he hit him in the head need to rewatch the play.

The flag was correct, the rule was designed to prevent peal-back blocks which can be very dangerous. In this case, everyone knows the flag was thrown because of the violence of the hit – but it was still technically against the rules because of the direction.

It appears he didn’t mean to hit him in the head, but he still hit him in the head. I like the idea of suspending or fining on intent, not if there in an injury or not. The rule says its a “legal play” but this is a rule that needs to be changed. he could have easily left the game with a concussion or severe injury on a non-significant play.
Seems to go against the idea of the spirit of the game in my eyes.

graylingskies says:
Jan 22, 2016 11:33 AM
My initial reaction at the time of Amendola’s hit was what the hell is he doing? Not for the penalty, but for the incredible stupidity of what he did…. If the ball had touched Amendola it would have been ruled a fumble followed by a KC recovery and possible TD…

That is a very good point, probably the best point made in this thread, and one this Pats fan had never considered.

I think the fine was appropriate in spite of the fact that it was not a helmet to helmet hit as multiple people on this thread have claimed, but I do think it was unnecessary roughness (again, not something that Amendola had ever done in his career; he is not Burfict or James Harrison).

Still, your point that the Pats probably should have disciplined him under the scenario you described is interesting and arguably valid.

This is not the correct way to look at it. OBJ’s mental state at the time compared to Amendola means nothing. There have been plenty of controlled NFL players who like to apply dirty hits, many controlled players like Amendola that mistakenly applied an illegal hit. Doesn’t matter, it all comes down to a hit that could significantly injure someone, regardless of the mental state or intent. If if you can’t see that then drop your pom-poms, something is wrong with you. Even the best players make mistakes.

t seems belichick can’t understand the rules. once upon a time in the playoffs, he said the hit on wes welker was the dirtiest thing he had seen, and the league declined to fine talib. this time, he says its a clean hit. and he league fines amendola.

either he doesn’t understand the rules, or he’s full of it. or both.

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Refresh our memories…..exactly when did Welker get flattened with a huge hit defending a punt return?

Lets get some facts straight. Piera said it wasnt a penalty for a hit on a defenseless receiver as that only applies to an offense receicer. There is a penalty for the crack back block. The natuee of the hit alone lends itself for scrutiny by the nfl. They want to protect players and by allowing a cowardly block to someone chin with to your helmet needs to be addressed. Personally I would like to see the nfl take a page from the NCAA regarding targeting. If they review it and you did. Out for the game. Period.

My initial reaction at the time of Amendola’s hit was what the hell is he doing? Not for the penalty, but for the incredible stupidity of what he did. Amendola knew the guy was keying in on catching the punt so he makes a block directly under the descending ball.

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His line is thinking that the ball was going to be placed inside the ten no matter what so he will take the fifteen yards.

People saying this hit was clean are trolling or smoking something. Fitzgerald did a block on a throw, Amendola did a blindside cheapshot that was not needed.

It’s interesting that when Mike Carey was asked about the play he couldn’t give a reason for the call. Unnecessary Roughness means it was okay to hit him, just not that hard I guess. It’s become a common sight during NFL games to see a flag every time a big hit occurs.

Amendola isn’t a dirty player, this is the first time I’ve seen him involved in anything like this. As a slot receiver, he takes hits like that on a regular basis. He probably just saw it as a chance to get in a lick of his own.

I remember when some Patriots fans accused Amendola of being “soft”. They certainly can’t say that anymore. He plays a tough game and isn’t afraid of going into the middle of the field.

As far as Amendola goes, I hope the team is able to re-work his deal rather than cut him. The team needs to realize the investment in Amendola in getting him on the same page with Brady. He really is the third option after Gronk/Edelman.

It seems to me that if he leads with the crown of his helmet it can’t be a legal hit. It looked to me like he used the helmet. I am not sure I agree that the play was dirty. He is an offensive player (and a finesse one at that) and I don’t expect him to have all the same technique for making contact. He did it wrong. S**t happens. Nobody was hurt. The better team won. Pay the fine, move on, and whoop some tail in Denver. This is just not that big of a deal.

All I know is…I have been a football fan for over 40 years, first game I attended was Jim Plunketts first start in Foxboro at the old stadium! In all my years of being a fan I don’t think I knew the name of ANY referee…until the last couple years. Referee’s are not supposed to become famous and not get any attention as it pertains to their work. Goodell’s NFL? They are now more famous than many players and sometimes I think they call penalty’s just to be noticed! I like Grudens idea about abolishing replays too-let em play!

the hit on welker was actually a hit by welker when he blew up talib (then on the pats) while running a pick play in the first quarter of the playoff game in 2014. nfl.com said:

Bill Belichick was steaming mad about the Wes Welker block that knocked Aqib Talib out of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game
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And Blandino said the Welker hit was legal. So Bill is now going by the rule, which seem to change regularly when it benefits a Pats opponent.

Fleming’s face mask is pointed in the direction of Amendola. Amendola is looking right at Fleming. Fleming is looking up. Amendola comes straight at him. Look at the camera angle that shows Amendola’s back. You can clearly see that there’s no helmet contact with Fleming’s face mask, only his right shoulder. In slo mo it clearly shows no movement of Fleming’s helmet.

It was a good, clean hard hit. Anyone who says different needs a remedial course in football

Welker hit Talib from the side while Talib was watching the QB. There’s no way he could see Welker. These are completely different plays.

kcflake says:
Jan 22, 2016 12:13 PM
Man, patriots fans are the Biggest Whiners in history. Id absolutely Everything does not go their way, they whine like bitches. Wow. I am sure glad I am not a pats fan.
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Simple. Dude was looking up at the ball defenseless and Amendola seeked him out and ruined him when he launched. Once again, it wasn’t illegal, it was just dirty. I’m a Pats fan, but I can understand these things.

Actually I’m thrilled the Patriots retained a draft pick or two after the “never before in the history of football has there ever been a more dirty block” than what that 180 pound monster put on that Chief player. That guy was more embarrassed than hurt. Planted by the smallest guy on the field. Damn he must have taken some real crap during film sessions.

I hate the Pats, but inhale to say that was a perfectly legal and clean hit as I understand the rules. He didn’t launch. He didn’t lead with helmet or initially can navy the helmet. It was s hard hit. If you want that out of the game, you’ll have to specific valley ban deceiving the kicking team and then blocking. Maybe Goodell will make the returners promise that they’ll try to catch the ball.

Well so much for the Pats trolls who insisted Amendola did nothing wrong. The same crew who insists that being nicknamed “the Deflator” really does have to do with losing weight.

Amendola is Burfict East. Both guys deserve to be sitting out this week, unfortunately only one is. The fact is, this hit was on a guy who had nothing to do with the play and in many ways was worse than what Burfict did.

Amendola should be suspended — the fact he isn’t puts to rest the whine that the Patriots are being targeted by the league. The only targeting being done is by a Patriots player here.

swmocardsfan says:
Jan 22, 2016 1:45 PM
Totally overlooking the hit….I am confused why he wasn’t ejected for throwing punches in the aftermath?? I thought if a player threw a punch in a game, it was an automatic ejection?
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Shouldn’t the player who grabbed his facemask and tried to pull his head off be tossed as well?

Hitting the guy in that situation isn’t what was illegal, it was hitting him too high, I believe. A player on the receiving team has every right to block an opponent to keep him away from the ball. If he’d have shoved him with his hands there would have been no penalty and no fine. He launched into him, and even though he appeared to try to get low, he still hit Fleming in the facemask (which is considered part of the head/helmet).

It wasn’t a dirty hit, from the look of it, but he *did* unintentionally hit him in the “head” which is a no-no in this league.

it seems belichick can’t understand the rules. once upon a time in the playoffs, he said the hit on wes welker was the dirtiest thing he had seen, and the league declined to fine talib. this time, he says its a clean hit. and he league fines amendola.

either he doesn’t understand the rules, or he’s full of it. or both.

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Get it straight. It was Welker (as a Bronco) that hit Talib (who was a Patriot) in the AFC Championship game two years ago in Denver. Talib had an existing hip injury. Welker did a crossing route and threw himself into Talib’s hip and knocked him out of the game. This is what the Broncos teach, and you can bet they will be diving at knees and landing on feet in hopes of knocking players out of the game this Sunday. It’s just how they are. It’s their history. You can look it up. It will all be deemed “coincidental” by the Denver players and probably most of the media, but it doesn;t change the fact that it is clearly dirty, and happens EVERY time the Broncos play a game where they feel threatened and entitled.

harrisonhits2 says:
Jan 22, 2016 11:36 AM
It was a legal hit though a hard one. He was coming from the front side of the player he hit and he hit him hard but not helmet to helmet. The target was ignoring Amendola and not looking out for himself like he should have.

Moral of the story is always expect the hit and be prepared. Especially in football. The KC player should have been paying attention to the field around him.

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He should have been watching Amendola instead of trying to do his job and catch/down the ball? That is without a doubt the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard on this subject. Players who don’t perform because they’re too busy avoiding hits don’t last long in the NFL.

As for the hit, it was crown of the helmet to the facemask and chest. Intention aside, a penalty and fine were deserved.

tigerlilac says:
Jan 22, 2016 11:31 AM
For my edification, do any Patriots fans hang out on the threads of other teams and constantly trash talk? I haven’t noticed that happening, just isolated experiences and postings. Pats threads are different. The top five poster are Patriots haters who get their panties in a bunch over inane controversies like a block by Amendola or a Belichick press conference.
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BTW, This is also a Chiefs thread…

tigerlilac says:
Jan 22, 2016 11:31 AM
For my edification, do any Patriots fans hang out on the threads of other teams and constantly trash talk? I haven’t noticed that happening, just isolated experiences and postings. Pats threads are different. The top five poster are Patriots haters who get their panties in a bunch over inane controversies like a block by Amendola or a Belichick press conference.
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omg are you SERIOUS? The most notorious trolls are Pats trolls. That “lol@thepatshaters” troll literally must have a full-time job hanging out on other team’s threads he does it so much. (Ironically– and cluelessly — he has no idea how foolish this makes him look given his handle.) He’s just one of at least a dozen chowderhead haters.

And don’t get me started on how much time Pats fans spend gaming the thumbs up/down voting system. They must need finger surgery after clicking so much.

Pats fans aren’t just the biggest trolls here, they’re the biggest hypocrites.
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And, what do you know, the biggest hypocrite of them all calling others hypocrites. Nobody trolls more than this clueless loser.